Building construction



Patented il 27, 1931 srArs PATENT oiFFlcE,

HEBERT W. REEL, 0F HINSDALE, ILLNOIS, .SSIGITOR TO UMTED STATES GYPSUH' COMPANY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS BUILDING CONSTR'UGIION Application led December 21, 1928. Serial No. 327,549.

This invention relates to improvements in' building construction, and more particularly to tiles, slabs or blocks, used in the erection of roofs or floors.

It has been customary to employ tiles of lightweight material, such as gypsum, with metal reinforcing members cast therein for roofs and floors, in which the tiles are supported upon metal structural members forming thefpurlins, subpurlins or beams of the building.

yAn object of this invention, therefore, is to provide s uch a tile with the ends of the reinforcing members protruding from the ends thereof to coact with ,thepurlins to form a rigid and monolithic roof or floor construction.

. Another object of the invention is to provide a precast tile which rests at its ends on the structuralv support members, said tile also having integral shoulders engaging the top of the support member to increase the bearing surface therewith; also to improve building constructions in other respects hereinafter specified and claimed.

Reference is to be had t o the, accompanying l drawings forming' a part of this specication,

in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view showing my improved building construction;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation through the device shown in Fig. 1, and v Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the building tiles.

In the preferred form of my invention, the steel supporting members, beams or purlins are composed of ordinary railroad rails, but any other desired shape of structural member may be used. This rail 10 usually consists of a base 11, a web 12, and a ball 13. lThese railsA 10 are spaced apart a predetermined distance and my improved building tiles 14 are positioned with their ends 15 resting upon the bases 11 of said rails. These tile are of sucient length to fit properly between the balls 13 of the rails.

preferably arranged in pairs and being provided with inclined sections 18 which follow substantially a line to best resist the stresses in the tile when supported by the lpurlins. After the bars 17 extend upwardly for a predetermined distance along the inclines 18, they are again bent to form sections 19 which are preferably parallel to the sections 17. These horizontal or end sections 19 extend outwardly to the end of the tile and the ends of said bars protrude a suliicient distance beyond the end of thetile so that the extreme ends of said bars may be bent downwardly to form depending ends 20 which engage or coact with the opposite side of the ball 13 of Vthe rail. These depending ends 20 may be bent downwardly at the factory and grooves 21 are molded in the ends of each tile so as to leave space to drop the depending bar ends 20`into position. In some cases, it is desirabl'e not to bend the depending ends 20 downwardly until the tiles are placed in position between the purlins. after which the ends of the bars, 20, may be bent downwardly by hammering. The bars 5.7 preferably extend parallel to the side edges of the tile.

In order to increase the bearing surface of the tile with the rail, the integral shoulders 22 extend outwardl from each end of the tile, a shoulder partially enclosing each of the bar sections 19. These shoulders are provided with inclined faces 23 and the tiles are so arranged on the purlins that a junction of two tiles occurs adjacent the middle of the opposite tile as shown in Fig. 1, with the shoulders 22 in interfitting relation. In order to provide lateral reinforcing 'for the tile between the reinforcing bars 17, transverse rods or reinforcin mesh 24 may be used to engage the bars 1 by welding, or in other suitable ways or in conjunction with same without attachment to the bars. The tiles are so proportioned, that spaces 25 are left between the ends of the tiles vand also grooves 21 are made large enough to permit grout to be poured into same which runs down and surrounds the web 12 of the rails so that thetile is anchored and is prevented by the balls 13 of the rails from 1ifting oi'lthe purlins as a result of tornadoes, or other extraneous stresses.

It should be noted that my improved construction for buildings provides a monolithic floor or roof in which the precast tiles are provided with reinforcing members whlch coact with the beams or purlins to make a continuous reinforcing system along the loor or roof with a monolithic structure formed by the grout 26. In the use of gypsum materials, this construction is especially efiicient, and easy to apply but other materials such as concrete may be used for the tiles and grout if desired. f

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a building tile, a rectangular' mass of precast cementitious material, and reinforcing members extending through said tile with the ends of said reinforcing members extending beyond the ends of said'tlle, the ends of said reinforcing members being adapted to be bent downwardly upon supporting members to form 'depending ends, the ends of said tile being provided with grooves for the reception of the depending ends ofthe reinforcing members of an adjacent tile.

2. In a building tile, a rectangular precast mass of cementitious material, integral shoulders formed on the ends of said tiles, said shoulders being adapted to interengage with shoulders of anadjacent tile and to form bearing surface on supporting members, and reinforcing members extending through said tile and having the ends thereof extending beyond said tiles so as to engage said supporting member.

3. In a building construction, a series of rails in spaced parallel relation, a plurality of tiles supported by said rails, said tiles having substantially horizontal integral surfaces bearing directly on different'portions of said rail, reinforcing members extending through said tiles and co-acting with said rails to forma continuous reinforcing system,and

grout associated with said tiles and rails so as to form a monolithic structure.

' 4. In a vbuilding construction, a plurality of structural support members in spaced parallel relation, a plurality of precast tiles supported between said support members, each of said tiles having substantially integral surfaces bearing directly on upper and lower sections of .a support member, reinforcing members extending through said tiles and independently hooking over said support members to form an linterlocking reinforcing system, and grout associated with said tiles and support members adapted to form a monolithic structure.

HERBERT W. REEL. 

